aside Resist Temptation To Follow Rep Maxine Waters’ Advice On How To Act With White House Officials

MCALLEN, TX – FEBRUARY 21: U.S. Border Patrol agents question undocumented immigrants at the U.S.-Mexico border. A group of men, women and children from Central America were picked up after crossing the Rio Grande, Texas, seeking asylum in the US (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

I can see the temptation to act out against the republican President Donald Trump’s cabinet members as they have hit hard on good people’s emotions. The president’s recent immigration orders which resulted in the forcible removal of children from parents seeking asylum at the southwestern US border has enraged the vast majority of Americans. We keep saying that this is not what the USA represents.But resorting to uncivil behaviors towards the president’s team members as they are out with family, just ends up playing into President Trump’s hands. Those who give into the very understandable need to respond in kind to the president’s bullying manipulations will only end up looking like him, which is definitely a losing proposition.

I’m talking about recent events like when the president’s spokesperson Sarah Huckabee Sanders with her family went out to eat but she was asked politely by a restaurant owner of the Red Hen to please leave the premises. Then there was the US Department of Homeland Security’s Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen who was heckled to where she was forced to leave a Mexican Restaurant.

Kirstjen Nielsen / Sarah Huckabee Sanders

To add to these raw emotions, the popular US democratic congressperson Maxine Waters went public to encourage the above kinds of actions as a form of civil protest.

I admit to having conflicting feelings about Rep. Waters advice. After all I admire her spunk but based on a lot of thought, I come down on the side of not harassing the president’s staffers as they are out for a quiet evening.

President Trump has this habit of baiting peoples on the left to invoke outrage with any number of over-the-top declarations which his base of voters just love. In doing this he controls the message. We have heard him describe the democrats as being in favor of open borders where criminals can cross over the southern US border to just take advantage.

The democrats have to constantly call out the president and his republicans in the US Congress who cover for his lack of civility. We should be pointing the finger in his direction.

But it is important for the Democrats to focus the media on responding to the president’s lies with facts.

Then the democrats should define the president’s actions. For example, the president should be made to explain why he doesn’t just sign an executive order to make all employers verify that their personnel are here in the USA legally, with the free service of “E-Verify”provided by the “US government. This step can be done when the managers provide the required data of each worker to the US Social Security Administration. The last time I checked, only about 50% of corporations take advantage of this service. If all companies were mandated to to take this step, that would be a major inexpensive way to end migrants being economically motivated to cross the US border in search of better paying jobs.

This should be followed up with inquiries as to why the vast majority of the president’s seasonal employees for all his hotel and golf course properties, are staffed with foreign HB2 visa workers instead of Americans.

The next question would be, why is the president not focusing on the huge numbers of undocumented workers who have overstayed their visas which accounts for about 50% of all illegal immigrants.

Then the democrats need to educate the public that the majority of migrants crossing the southwest US border are refugees from El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala who are definitely NOT CRIMINALS.

The stories of some of these refugee families should be shared. One of my blogging family Nan tells about a refugee family’s nightmare.

She read a report “about a Central American father who went to the authorities in an attempt to get drugs out of their neighborhood? The drug dealers found out and were going to kill him and his family for turning them in. The family had no choice but to run. When the drug dealers found out their landlord had helped them get away, they killed him!”

“THIS is what many of these people are running from … and what they will face if they are forced to return.”

The following story drives home the point of why it doesn’t pay to wallow in the mud with President Trump…

On April 11, 2018, Sarah D. Wire of the LA Times penned the following report, “Man who accused of threatening to kill Rep. Maxine Waters expected to plead guilty”

“A San Pedro man is expected to plead guilty Wednesday to threatening to kill Rep. Maxine Waters over her criticism of President Trump.”

“Anthony Scott Lloyd, 45, faces a single count of threatening a United States official, according to a plea agreement filed March 26. It is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.”

“Waters’ staff forwarded the voicemail to Capitol Police, who referred it to the FBI.”

“According to the original complaint, Lloyd told the FBI that he was listening to talk radio and it was a “spur of the moment” decision to call Waters and leave the voicemail. Lloyd also told the FBI he had no intention of actually harming her.”

“Lloyd is scheduled to enter his plea Monday before U.S. District Judge Stephen V. Wilson in Los Angeles.”

32 comments

I know not to follow rep. Maxine Waters’ suggestion is the right thing to do, but , as far as what the Red hen owner action is concerned, I believe it was the right thing to do. The reason why this administration is so brazen and ” in your face ” nasty is because people do not fight back the way the owner of Red Hen did. They get away with almost anything, even the intentional destruction of this country.

You are right about the Red Hen owner. But this is what I worry about when peoples do this. How do we distinguish between denying entry to a republican within the president’s administration and then yell when another denies entry to Muslims, peoples of color, etc.

I like Kim of “By Hook or by Book’s” idea:

She wrote, “And as far as the Red Hen owner, another previous Democratic politician suggested that it may have been better for her to say that Sanders was welcome, and the payment for her meal would be donated to one of the organizations that are helping immigrant families. There are other ways to protest and make our voices heard.

What’s that compared to what she’s doing to America ? That’s why they’re so brazen because people don’t do anything. They’re already immune to people’s whining. They don’t give a hoot. That’s why I’m surprised at the outrage that Sanders was denied service at Red Hen, while she’s complicit in the destruction of everything that we hold dear in this ” great ” country.

The problem is that Mrs. Sanders doesn’t get it. She gets to play the victim card. There used to be a saying, don’t waste your words of wisdom/ correction on a swine as it goes nowhere.

You can be absolutely right that she deserves to be treated with contempt but if you give into that impulse, she looks like the victim to the president’s base who then become more defensive, tribal and more motivated to get out there to vote. Exactly what has been accomplished? But the right gets to show videos as to how uncivil Democrats are.

Reblogged this on It Is What It Is and commented:
Oh, my dear friend …. but I find it so difficult not to respond in kind!!
‘Resorting to uncivil behaviors towards the president’s team members as they are out with family, just ends up playing into Drumpf’s hands. Those who give into the very understandable need to respond in kind to the president’s bullying manipulations will only end up looking like him, which is definitely a losing proposition.’
… “when they go low, we go high!” … I guess!!

This is a point of view where many will disagree with me and I get it. The president and his enablers are guilty of extreme violence/ cruelty as they have acted to cause children to be forcibly separated from refugee families who have already gone through tremendous suffering and who are simply asking for asylum.

My point of view is that when peoples do civil protests when these enablers are out for a quiet dinner or other activity not related to their job, these enablers then play the victim card. They truly don’t get why most Americans are so angry with them. They end up looking like victims and the president’s base just gets more defensive, tribal and more motivated to vote. The protesters end up making the president’s day as that’s the reaction he wants to see. The civil protest ends up accomplishing little.

I am all for civil protests in general.

Do I feel sorry for these monsters if they are faced with heckling, etc. to where they have to leave an establishment. NO! I just worry about its lack of effectiveness.

Thanks a million times over for all of your support and for this reblog.

Most welcome!! I do get your point. However, it seems to me that Dems have always been civil and politically correct. Where does that get the Dems? So far nothing … it’s a double edged swords. The Repugblicans have no morals or conscience!! Arrghh ….

I am conflicted over this issue as well. Being civil does not mean that we don’t fight back. I am sick and tired of the GOP always framing the message while the Dems don’t push back enough. Why don’t we start framing the messages?

While I normally agree with your opinions 100%, this is one occasion that I find us disagreeing to a large degree. I do feel that the owners of the Red Hen were correct in following her (and her staffs) convictions in asking Huckabee to leave her business. The right of a business to refuse to serve patrons has long been an established policy backed by the Republican party and thus their perceived outrage is utter nonsense. In the points brought up by Rep. Waters, I do agree with her approach if done in a legal manner. The right to “Shun” is a well seasoned means to show lack of approval for ones actions. The right to demonstrate against a political party and the individuals controlling it has been a very useful tool for change in this nation, one good example is in the ending of the Vietnam war having been forced upon our government due to massive protests. Yet another good example is integration and it also would never have happened without massive protests by the public. We could go on and on with examples of change that have come from civil protests, many of which at the time were called illegal, but time has shown that not only the were legal, but quite effective. Down thru history the theory of holding our leaders in check and preventing them from damaging our nation has been to hold there feet to the fire figuratively, so exposing those members of the administration to public ridicule is not an unknown action. Why should the members of this administration receive a free ride simply because they are led by a tyrant? Why should we fear retaliation from this person, when regardless of what we do, we will be attacked by him? Will our nation be saved only by retreating in fear of what might happen? Or do we stand and fight for our nation? It seems that there will be little time to make that choice as we are but four short months from impact!!

You make some good points. This is a time were many peoples disagree with me and I get it. These peoples in the president’s administration have been condoning violence against refugee families who have already undergone extreme trauma. They should be made to know how despicable their actions are. I do strongly believe in civil protests in general.

My point of view is that when this civil protest happens when the president’s enablers are out for a quiet dinner, those in the president’s camp don’t see or get why folks are so angry at them. They end up looking like victims and the president’s base just gets more defensive and tribal. The civil protest ends up accomplishing little except motivating the base to get out and vote. In short, those who do this kind of civil protest, they are making the president’s day.

Do I sit back and say this is terrible when the president is the bully-in-chief? NO WAY! I just say that this form of protest is just not effective.

Might I suggest that we spend too much time worrying about his “base voters”, as nothing short of the world imploding will change their views! His core voters do not account for nearly as many people as many believe. To use yet another person and his core voters as an example, if Ron Paul had as many “core voters”, as people had accepted there were, we would have had him as President when he ran. However what you actually had (much like today) were a lot of people that were very vocal and dedicated to their candidate, what they lacked in numbers they made up for in noise! Thus they appeared much larger than real life showed them to be. While I do not discount the number of voters for tRump, what I do discount is that all of these people should be considered his core voters. My point being, that to expose this administration for the many possible illegal acts and actions, will take radical actions, if for no other reason this man has sown much distrust for the normal methods of exposing his misdeeds. To simply sit back and allow this nation to be destroyed from within is simply not an acceptable action, too many of us served and bled for this nation to remain a free nation and a place where all were welcome regardless of race or heritage to simply lay down and surrender to a tyrant! This man sitting in the oval office has said when attacked he will attack back, then so be it, but when the attacks become constant against him, he will be forced to back down, much as he did this week. Think for a moment, if people had not stood up to him and screamed that this action of stealing children was wrong, would he have signed his phony executive order that while not a real solution, was a defeat for him. Now is not he time to let up, but instead to ratchet up the pressure instead…

I respect your point of view but this is one time that I am going to respectfully disagree. Peoples have been able to express their outrage without resorting to cornering president’s staffers when they are out for a quiet dinner and they were still able to force the president to backtrack.

Kim of “By Hook or by Book” had a great idea.

She wrote, “And as far as the Red Hen owner, another previous Democratic politician suggested that it may have been better for her to say that Sanders was welcome, and the payment for her meal would be donated to one of the organizations that are helping immigrant families. There are other ways to protest and make our voices heard.

Dear Crusty, i’m not so sure asking a paying patron to leave b/c of their political beliefs is a wise move. Then conservative Christian establishments can deny goods and services to the LGBT community due to their religious values. Where do we draw the line? Separating and excluding ppl is what this administration is all about… do we really want to follow in their footsteps?

“The right of a business to refuse to serve patrons has long been an established policy backed by the Republican party…” And that’s exactly my point, do we want to be more like Republicans?

The examples you’ve given are excellent, ie protests to end war, integration and civil disobedience/ protests, and these actions are unifying and strengthens our nation. But once ppl start following Congresswoman Maxine Water’s advice, then you are only widening the rift that divides this once great country of ours.

Cliche but true: united we stand, divided we fall. So start being the change you want to see.

I agree with you Gronda. Remember Michelle Obama’s “When they go low, we go high”? I like Maxine Waters, but what she’s advocating is going to backfire on the Democrats. And as far as the Red Hen owner, another previous Democratic politician suggested that it may have been better for her to say that Sanders was welcome, and the payment for her meal would be donated to one of the organizations that are helping immigrant families. There are other ways to protest and make our voices heard.

I love the suggestion by the democrat who suggested that it may have been better for the Red Hen owner to say that Sanders was welcome, but the payment for her meal would be donated to one of the organizations that are helping immigrant families.

There will be many who disagree with me but in the end, I’m with Michelle Obama.

I totally agree with you and Gronda. To donate and help immigrant families is a lovely, positive and constructive gesture. It will certain affect change in the right direction and show this administration the error of their ways!

Keep being the agent of change that we wish to see, not succumb to the President’s level of inhumanity.

Just because I advocate for acting civilly in confronting President’s staffers when they are out with family or doing personal stuff, does not mean that we don’t fight hard. But we don’t have to fight on the president’s terms or stoop to his level.

I was watching CNN since the Supreme Court decision and a black panelist mentioned the decisions made in the past that were discriminatory and how they’d been overruled in time. Let’s hope this is another one that will be overruled in future. He mentioned the Dred Scott decision that it was all right to own slaves and the ruling that made it okay to intern American Japanese. There have been some really wrong decisions that have since been overruled. That gives us hope. —- Suzanne

Gronda, both you and Jill have covered this well. The worst thing we can do as Americans is emulate the White House incumbent. We must be better than this and act civilly toward each other having rational debate. Resorting to name calling and threats lessens one’s argument. And, we must be respectful of patrons, the only exception is when they are causing problems through their own actions. It is a very slippery slope. Keith

I lean to your way of thinking. But I am empathetic to others who feel differently. The president and his sycophants are abusing and harming children and refugee families who have suffered unbelievable trauma. What they are doing to these peoples is pure evil. I would love to give one of them a bloody nose but then I know, that my action would not only accomplish nothing but it would be counterproductive. It is important to fight back but it is even more crucial that we are smart about it.

Gronda, I wrote a similar post this morning and encouraged readers to read your and Jill’s posts. As evidenced by how you advocate, one can be strident in their views without being a jerk. When we name call, use labels or shout down people, we are not being heard. This is a key reason I find Antifa’s violence disturbing when it occurs. It dilutes the message that white supremacists are stepping on rights of minorities.

This President brings out the worst in Americans. We must not emulate his coarse behavior. He won’t hear us and will just use such behavior as a prop. Keith

When I heard that Nielsen had been heckled, and then Sanders was asked to leave the Red Hen, the chocolate pie scene in “The Help” came to mind. I could not bring myself to do that, but the thought that knowing I am disliked or hated would cause me to think twice before I go out to eat anything prepared in a restaurant.

I know a set up when I see it. Ms. Loomer was acting confrontational to bait Rep. Maxine Waters who didn’t bite.

I have mentioned that Horn News is a conservative publication to where its coverage is frequently misleading.

Rep Maxine went into the elevators to get to her office. The elevator is for Congressional representatives only. If you watch the entire video, you will see that it is Ms. Loomer who is out of line. The US Congress police have their own videos and Ms. Loomer will be lucky if she is not charged with harassment.